Last weekend I turned up to another national champs race: the Welsh National Standard Distance Triathlon Championships at Broad Haven (ooh – I just noticed it’s part of the Grand Prix series and I should be at the next two events too). Pembrokeshire Tri Club’s race in St Bride’s Bay is always good. And hard. I’d entered late, half hoping I might not get my entry in on time and would offer to marshall instead as this was a training race and it bloody hurt last year when I tore some tendons! I didn’t really get psyched up to race until the pre-race briefing right before the start. The weather forecast hadn’t helped, but by Saturday morning it was lovely, sunny and windy.
The race started with a running entry into the sea from the beach. Always fun. Fast to the first buoy and then turned into a long section into the wind, which was tough and tricky to get onto and stay on feet and drafts. The second turn back towards shore made life a lot easier, and the third turn to swim parallel with the shore even better with the wind behind. Drafting was easier and I was in the main, front group, something I’ve been aiming to be able to do this year. I came out of the water in 12th I think. No hassles with the transition this time (I’m learning?) and out on the bike behind a couple of really good swimmers in the Cardiff Tri club. I picked up a lot of places on the climb straight out of the bay, which was a little worrying (am I going to explode? – this seems the right effort) and settled down a little after.
As far as I know I was the only numpty to have disk wheel on the back and a deep carbon wheel on the front for such a hilly, windy race. The organisers are proud of the fact that this race doesn’t have any flat bits other than the beach. I’d got the physics right though, as I picked up place after place, and rode myself into 3rd position by T2. I put out a good, solid effort but didn’t muller it because if you’ve done this race before you’ve always got *that* run in the back of your mind. Some guys had chosen UCI setups (i.e. road bikes with clip ons) but most of the fast riders had TT bikes out I think. My position and riding style means my TT bike actually works very well on hilly races, and it descends ok and climbs out of the saddle just fine. On a windy day it’s even more important to be as aero as possible, of course. I got blown about a bit by the wind on the front wheel being such a skinny bloke but it never really stalled out and I had plenty of room (and experience). Of the top finishers I had the 2nd fastest bike split, only a minute off Oliver Simon’s, and the 3rd fastest overall. I think that indicates I got it pretty much right. Disk wheels are great on windy days!
I had to shout at the top of my lungs to shift marshals and a car out of the way as I flew down the hills and bends into Broad Haven at I’ve no idea what speed. In T2 I missed by bike rack again (this race always catches me out with that one), I had to dip under a bar to find my spot. Running shoes on and a second GlucoJuice grabbed, I chased down the Pembrokeshire Tri athlete I’d almost caught on the bike and passed him on the muddy, puddly, slippery, brown coastal path up the hill. Beautiful views but the path needed focus to find your way around and up as effectively as possible. When I hit the top and the tarmac the wind almost stopped me. Nasty!
I knew two strong runners were chasing me down as I’d seen them on the beach when I’d got some elevation on the climb. James Hockin caught me at around 5km and stuck beside me, but when the road when up again my quads struggled and he easily strode away. I was caught again around 6km later, but I was starting to feel better again, and Ross got a gap on me that I held and thought I might have been pulling back a bit as we got closer to the road descent and the beach. No good though, and by the the beach it was all done with a big gap behind and a gap ahead. I finished in 4th place, just missing out on a 3rd bronze medal this year in a national or international championship event. Oh well. I performed very well, and much better than I thought I might. The running is going to take a while to come back together, and I’m in no hurry.
We had loads of Cardiff Triathletes racing too, and they all came in bit by bit, sharing stories and suffering on the beach. Jack and Annabel were happy to see me. It’s a good race for them to watch as it starts late and they get to play on the beach for most of the race if the weather’s good or to eat in the cafe if it’s not so good. The weather for the rest of the weekend was pretty good so we all (Cardiff Tri team mates too) camped for another night and had a lovely old time. Camping, kids and racing are hard, hard work. It’s a good job we relish suffering.
Links:
Kim’s race photos on Flickr.
Garmin data –
